Is there a particular project or piece of work that you are especially proud of? What makes it stand out for you?
The piece “No me encandila la luz mala” I think is the one I would choose. It’s a sculpture I made during my third semester at MICA and it’s the only sculpture I ever did that included sound and light as part of it.
The theme of the sculpture is an urban legend of “La luz mala”, a light that appears on the rural areas of Argentina (the country where I was born) and Uruguay (the country that I grew up in) and every time someone would get close to this light, they would only find animal or sometime human bones.
This is a phenomena that actually occurs and of course there is the scientific explanation and the ones that the locals believe. In the piece, I created a conical shape basket with a blue base and all the rest black.
The black part of the sculpture is made of the previously mentioned Trådmans that I connected arms to legs to create a thread that I later weaved to create the basket.
Behind the base I added a light with a blue filter. On the side of the sculpture, an audio played on a screen with subtitles, of a man I met in Uruguay, telling the story of how he saw this “Luz mala” when he was little.
I think I am particularly proud of this sculpture because of the amount of research I did, the amount of time I spent creating it and more importantly, it connects the two countries where I was born and raised.
Talk more about what led you to start using wire as the main medium for your art. It is such a unique approach!
Well as I said, I started from a very young age and I realized that wire allowed me to materialize any idea I had.
At first, it helped me with every model project I had to do in school, then it helped me create costumes to go to conventions and then it turned into the practice that I have nowadays.
With my art, I always see more value in my work, the more time I dedicate to it. For example when creating baskets. Wire can easily be weaved together and I could eventually create a basket but I purposely add an extra level of difficulty when I choose to create it out of the Trådmans for example.
It is hard to explain but I have never been very good with words or expressing myself, let alone talk about my work. So I make it so the work can talk for itself.
What advice would you give to an emerging artist that is trying to market themselves?
I think the main advice I can give is to never stop creating. If you want art to be your main job, treat it as a job. Of course I work as a teacher because I have bills to pay but with my practice, I can take the wire everywhere.
So every time I have some spare time, I am constantly creating. Never stop creating and never be satisfied with what you create. Always aspire for more.
How has social media helped expand the reach of your art?
Well the only social media I use is Instagram and it has definitely helped to be seen by more people. I wish I had more posts but I think it is a good way to catalog yourself and your art and hope that someday it reaches the right person.
What’s a song you’re currently listening to on repeat, and why?
Son pololos by 31 minutos. It’s a love song from a chilenean puppet show for kids that I show my Spanish students. I think a mixture of nostalgia and catchy musicality is what makes me listen to this song so much. It’s a pretty cute story.
To learn more about Federico’s journey and his original art, be sure to connect with him on
instagram (@wireisart). Be on the lookout for his next project!
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